Simon couldn’t hear, as Blake’s voice came through his phone. “Hey, Simon. I thought you’d want to know that someone called my office, claiming to be a client but asking about all your properties.”
Simon felt a chill. Blake would only be calling if the properties included all the ones listed under the various shell companies that theoretically would be untraceable back to him. Only Blake knew, along with the lawyer who had formed all the shell companies.
“I didn’t give them any information, of course, saying that I would get back to them about whether or not they were available, if the owner could be persuaded,yaddayaddayadda. But when I looked up the name they left, I couldn’t find it or the company they claimed to be with. It’s only setting off my spidey-sense because, what are the odds that he’s asking only about properties that belong to you?”
Simon let out a long, slow breath. What are the odds, indeed. If he were looking for anomalies, this qualified as a neon flashing, five-alarm blaring one. In capital letters.
“Simon, you there?”
“Yeah, sorry, Blake. You did the right thing in letting me know. Think you can find out who this person is?”
“No prob. I can try. He left me a number—I’m assuming it’s a working one since he wants that information, so I’m on it.”
Simon ended the call, his hand shaking a little. He pushed the glasses back up. Breathe in. Breathe out. Calm. Repeat.
“Everything ok?” Rika’s voice was filled with concern. Typical of how awesome she was, she was ready to fix whatever was going on.
“You’re really doing a great job, in case I forget to tell you enough.” Simon said, and the HR Director glowed with the praise. He realized he rarely saw Rika with an expression other thanOn my way to put out that fire, and the one next to it. And the one after that too.Shit, maybe he did need to tell her more.
“I want you to spend whatever you need, get a larger suite of offices, hire all the people you think necessary.” Simon told her. “Give yourself and Puma a ten percent raise while you’re at it. I wouldn’t be able to do this without you.”
Rika laughed. “You just added to my workload, but I don’t mind!”
Simon grinned back at her. If only he could feel this comfortable talking with women who didn’t work for him.
* * *
The sounds of the Faire all around her faded to a dull roar. Jordy looked at her POS phone, which she was going to upgrade with her first paycheck after her promotion and raise. It was something she had to get after her father cut off her access to the family plan with the huge military discount. She told herself it was the only thing she missed about being thrown out of the family.
Although this POS device did what it was supposed to, especially here by the side of the jousting area where she knew phone reception was good. She was still reeling from the call that she had just received, her mouth opening and closing, over and over, in disbelief. All around her the Faire was a hive of activity, while she stood motionless, shoulders slumped in her usual slouch.
Slowly the surroundings bled into her stupor, the sounds of people having fun or making money by facilitating fun. Ops as always in the very thick of it, making sure all the behind-the-scenes stuff was happening the way it was supposed to. Just so the crowds coming in were getting the full fledged Medieval Re-enactment Experience they were expecting.
This was her reality, a life she was creating for herself. A life she deserved. She belonged here, calling the shots, generating the huge buzz of feeling indispensible. Making things happen. Looked up to as someone in charge.
Yet with a single phone call, she felt completely deflated.
She rubbed the cheap plastic of her POS phone with its prepaid calling plan, resisting the urge to hurl it, or stomp on it with the heel of her knock-off Doc Martens. That wouldn’t solve her problem, just create a new one until she could afford a new phone. She replayed the last two minutes for herself, minus the part where she had been so excited at first when she had recognized the voice coming through her phone.
She’d been excited to hear from Cadmus. Her voice had even squeaked when she eagerly asked when they would be meeting up. But no, Cadmus had called to cancel. He’d even made up some distant, polite message about how something had come up and he had to reschedule. She noted the way he pronounced theshin the word, as if he were freakin’ Alfred Hitchcock on the set ofPsycho. One of the many ways in which the dude was cool.
Except he’d also sounded like he couldn’t wait to get off the phone. Like talking to her was a freaking chore he had to cross off his to-do list. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was the path to a permanent blow-off. Kind of a classier “don’t call us, we’ll call you” which was only a step away from ghosting. Was it because she wasn’t able to stay and help with the hiker that Billy Bob had procured? Cadmus had been so lavish with his praise of that escapee fromThe Hills Have Eyes.
And didn’t that just give her an idea. The inspiration coursed through her like a jolt of electricity, shaking her out of her stupor. Her lip curled even more from its permasneer. Anything Billy Bob could do, she could do better! She’d procure someone herself. She was planning to, anyway, when she took the filled tranquilizer dart cartridges from Cadmus’ root cellar. But she’d do it on the soonish side. In fact…
Her eyes lit on one of the actors, who’d been not-so-stealthily staring at her boobs while literally licking his lips. Around the same age as that hiker, and fit enough, even though she avoided looking at him as much as possible. Best of all, he really wouldn’t be missed.
Yes, Cadmus would be pleased.
* * *
If Cadmus didn’t want to strangle Micah before, he did now. After a drive for a quick look-see in one of the wooded areas that Cadmus was looking at, they were now in the downtown area of Gardendale, deciding on a restaurant to have their late lunch.
Micah was practically vibrating with energy and excitement. It just figured that while Cadmus was still feeling overwhelmed with the potency of the area’s energies, the younger man was reacting as if he were a tuning fork instead. Cadmus was feeling exhausted with the stress of not only trying to keep up, but hiding the fact that he was having difficulty doing so.
Plus Micah was fucking grating on his nerves to begin with.
“HTM is gonna love this town,” Micah exclaimed. What a pair they made, walking down the street. Cadmus in the hateful garments made out of garbage, and Micah in whatever passed for fashion among the youth of today. Complete with the medallions gifted by HTM.
